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Latest Breaking Pakistan News, Business, Life, Style, Cricket, Videos, CommentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:19:59 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1ECP bars parliamentarians from using electronic items during Senate electionshttp://tribune.com.pk/story/846973/ecp-bars-parliamentarians-from-using-electronic-items-during-senate-elections/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/846973/ecp-bars-parliamentarians-from-using-electronic-items-during-senate-elections/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:15:22 +0000Irfan Ghaurihttp://tribune.com.pk/?p=846973ISLAMABAD: In order to ensure secrecy of the ballot, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) banned on Tuesday all members of the National and provincial assemblies from using mobile phones and electronic items in the wake of the Senate elections.

In a statement issued by the ECP, the commission said it “imposed a ban upon members of the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies for taking with them mobile phones or other electronic devices, through which pictures can be taken, in the premises of the polling.”

The move comes as government tries to curb horse-trading in the upcoming Senate polls, whereby voters can switch sides unofficially and caste votes in exchange of money. For this purpose, voters take pictures of their ballot papers as proof of who they have voted for.

The ECP was acting upon Article 226 of the Constitution which upholds all elections to be held by secret ballot. In a statement, the commission “directed all Returning Officers to ensure that that the secrecy of the ballot to not be violated through any mode whatsoever.”

As the Senate elections, scheduled for March 5, approach, political parties are on the move to build alliances.

On Sunday, Pakistan People’s Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and Jamaiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman reached the understanding, where PPP co-chairperson Asif AliZardari said his party, JUI-F and Awami National Party were on the same page vis-à-vis Senate polls. “The PPP is also making efforts to convince Aftab Ahmed Sherpao’s Qaumi Watan Party to join the alliance.”

Four candidates have been elected unopposed to the upper house of the parliament following the release of a final list of Senate poll contestants by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday.

Of the 131 candidates who will be taking part in the election, two candidates each from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have been elected unopposed from the Sindh Assembly on seats reserved for technocrats and women. These were PPP’s Farooq H Naek and Sassui Palijo, and MQM’s Barrister Saif Ali Khan and Nighat Mirza.

With four senators elected already, 48 upper house seats across Pakistan will be contested on March 5. Half of the 104 members of the upper house will then make way for the new 52 senators in mid-March after completing their six-year term.

With the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government unlikely to muster support for its proposed 22nd Amendment Bill – which seeks to curb horse trading by holding Senate polls through open ballot – by March 5, the ECP is set to hold the elections under the secret ballot system.

The commission will send the list of the remaining 127 candidates to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) for the printing of more than 3,000 ballot papers for voting under the existing single transferable vote system.

Failure on the government’s part to amend the Constitution and laws pertaining to the procedure of the Senate polls will put up a daunting challenge for both PML-N and its rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in trying to ensure their lawmakers maintain party discipline and vote for their respective ticket-holders.

In total, 11 seats each – seven general and two each for technocrats and women – are to be contested from Sindh and Punjab. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, an additional seat reserved for minorities will be contested in addition to the 11 seats.

For the other seven general seats from Sindh, only eight candidates are in the run now. Nomination papers for 18 candidates on general seats were accepted in the province, but 10 of them withdrew their nominations following an understanding between the PPP and the MQM.

At a news conference outside the election commission office in Karachi, PPP Senator Rehman Malik also announced that his party had worked out a seat adjustment formula with MQM in Sindh under which all their candidates will be elected unopposed.

The PPP will get seven seats under the formula while the MQM will secure four, Malik said, adding that the candidates from either party have withdrawn their nominations in favour of the other. ‘This is a new step towards a working relationship between the PPP and the MQM,” said Malik.

For general seats from Sindh in the Senate, MQM’s Aminul Haque, Waseem Akhtar , Gul Faraz Khattak and Babar Ghauri have withdrawn their candidacy, and the party is fielding only Mian Atiq and Khushbakht Shujaat. The PPP’s candidates for the general seats are Rehman Malik, Islamuddin Shaikh, Saleem Mandviwalla, Engineer Ghiachand, and Abdul Latif Ansari.

In Punjab, the PPP is giving a tough time to PML-N by fielding candidates for general, technocrat and women’s seats. Had PML-N efforts to convince PPP from withdrawing its candidates succeeded, it would have secured all 11 seats unopposed.

Ten candidates are running for the seven general seats, three candidates each are running for the two women’s and two technocrat seats.

Interesting contests are expected in K-P and Balochistan. Twelve candidates –including ticket-holders from PTI, PPP and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), and independent hopefuls – are in the run for the seven general seats.

The three parties have also field six candidates in total for women’s seats and another six for technocrat seats. Three candidates, meanwhile, are running for the minorities’ seat.

A similar fluid situation exists in Balochistan where 14 candidates from various parties are in the race for the seven general seats. Seven candidates are contesting the two technocrat seats, six are running for the two women’s seats and five are hoping to secure the lone seat for minorities.

Amazingly, the four Senate seats from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will be contested by a staggering 36 candidates, almost all of whom are not backed by any party.

Meanwhile, eight candidates are in the run for the single general and women’s seat in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), four for each category. Although both PPP and MQM have fielded candidates for these two seats, PML-N is poised to secure them both due to its numbers in the National Assembly which votes for these seats

After PML-N’s prime candidate for the ICT women’s seat, Rahila Magsi, was disqualified, the party’s covering candidate Nargis Nazir is now the leading contestant.

The PML-N has not withdrawn its covering candidate for Iqbal Zafar Jhagra for the ICT technocrat seat, though.

More than 14 years since the announcement of the current aviation policy, Pakistan is set to open its skies and ground operations at airports for national and international investors in the new policy with no taxes on investments.

“The draft of the new national aviation policy has been approved by the prime minister and now it will be placed before the ECC (Economic Coordination Committee) in its next meeting before implementation by the end of March,” Shujaat Azeem, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation, told reporters recently.

Sharing salient features of the new aviation regime, Azeem said there will be no taxes on investments in the sector including aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for which the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would provide land to both national and international companies.

In an effort to attract investors to provide MRO services, the government will offer a 10-year tax holiday.

“There will be no taxes on investments; only revenues will be taxed,” Azeem said, adding the Ministry of Finance had given its consent to the proposal.

At present, more than 28% in taxes is collected under various heads which drives away investors. With high taxes, the aviation sector’s contribution to the national exchequer is dwindling because of a negligible growth of 0.01%.

The industry’s growth remains insignificant despite a huge population base as only 8% of Pakistanis are estimated to travel by air.

In comparison, average global growth in aviation is around 8%. Separately, the aviation sector grows 9% in Thailand, 3.6% in Malaysia and 1.5% in India.

Mismanagement, pathetic conditions at airports, safety and security issues and high fares due to lack of competition are among the reasons for the negligible growth in Pakistan’s aviation sector.

Under the proposed policy, all services at the airports, which are now being managed by the CAA, including terminals, parking lots and other facilitates, will be outsourced to private investors.

For this purpose, services of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) would be utilised to ensure transparency, the prime minister’s adviser said. However, navigation and other sensitive areas will still remain under the control of CAA.

The CAA will have a regulatory role instead of executing all operations in the public sector.

Safety Investigation Board

Another important feature of the proposed policy is turning the Safety Investigation Board into an independent body. At present, it works under the CAA which raises questions whenever it conducts an investigation into a mishap.

The government would also allow tax-free import of all equipment for the airports that will be declared green-fields.

The paid-up capital for a regular transport licence has been proposed at Rs500 million, which will be reviewed periodically by the CAA board.

Fleet registration would be mandatory for all Pakistani aircraft. The policy has also proposed an increase in the minimum fleet for a regular public transport licence for both national and international services.

Under the existing policy, the minimum fleet requirement is three aircraft for an airline to operate in the country. Similarly, the maximum age of aircraft at the time of induction will be brought down from 15 years to 12 years.

The CAA will act as a regulator to monitor and discourage predatory pricing, but fares will continue to remain deregulated.

Cargo villages

In the new policy, the government plans to set up two cargo villages, one in the south and another in the north of the country to help increase cargo traffic.

]]>1ECP finalises list of 131 candidates for Senate pollshttp://tribune.com.pk/story/845774/ecp-finalises-list-of-131-candidates-for-senate-polls/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/845774/ecp-finalises-list-of-131-candidates-for-senate-polls/#commentsSat, 28 Feb 2015 17:54:03 +0000Irfan Ghaurihttp://tribune.com.pk/?p=845774ISLAMABAD: Anticipating that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will fail to muster enough support for its proposed changes to the procedure for Senate elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday issued a final list of 131 candidates for Upper House polls.

Among the 131 candidates in final contest, with two candidates each from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on technocrat and women seats were elected unopposed from Sindh Assembly. PPP candidate Farooq H Naik and Sassui Palijo while MQM’s Barrister Ali Khan Saif and Nighat Mirza were elected on the two reserved seats for technocrats and women.

Hence, the ECP will be sending names of the remaining candidates to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan for printing of over 3,000 ballot papers for voting under existing single transferable vote system.

In the 104 member Upper House, half of the members will be retiring in mid-March after completing their six year term. They will be replaced by 52 new members, with some of the retiring ones making their way again. And as four senators were elected unopposed on Saturday, 48 seats will be up for grabs in polls scheduled for March 5.

Senate polls to feature secret ballots

A bid to change the way the Senate elections are held has apparently failed.

The move sponsored by ruling PML-N and its arch rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to institute an open voting system as opposed to the secret ballot system, fell through after it failed to woo support from PPP and JUI-F to secure two thirds majority vote in both Houses of parliament to force a constitutional amendment.

The two parties and few other smaller parties had opposed the idea in huddle organised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday.

The government accosted these parties once again in an aborted attempt but has vowed to continue its efforts to cajole these parties.

This failure will put up a daunting challenge for PML-N and PTI to maintain discipline among their MPs and ensure that they vote for party ticket holder candidates in the provinces.

The electoral authority has given a go-ahead to over a dozen candidates whose nomination papers for contesting the March 5 upper house of parliament polls were rejected during scrutiny on various grounds – mainly non-payment of taxes.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which assumed the role of appellant authority over the decisions of returning officers (ROs), who conducted scrutiny of nomination papers of Senate elections, cleared 15 candidates on Thursday.

A total of 19 petitions were fixed for Thursday’s hearing and 11 others will be heard on Friday (today). Of those whose petitions were fixed, 18 belonged to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and one from Punjab.

Saud Majeed, a PML-N candidate from southern Punjab, got through to contest polls now as the commission has overturned the decision of RO from Punjab who had declared him ineligible to contest elections on charges of being a loan defaulter.

Majeed in his appeal claimed that a company, in which he had shares with others, owed the loan which the company has repaid. The company, he also said, was in litigation with the lending institution and the case was pending. Moreover he submitted a certificate that he had been paying his taxes regularly.

They had taken the position that Fata is a tax-free area and they were exempted from payment of taxes.

All the 14 members were facilitated to fill out the required form to get a clean chit from FBR and their appeals were accepted.

Four candidates from Fata – Syed Muhammad Hussain, Dr Aurengzeb, Muhammad Kamran Khan and Habib Malik Orakzai – could not show up due to some confusion. Their appeals will now be heard on Friday (today) and a similar decision in their cases is expected.

Interestingly, election laws that bar the candidates from contesting polls on certain grounds also provide ways to get through it one way or the other.

One of the sections of Senate Election Laws stipulates that if the defaulter of utility bills or loans clears his liabilities before a final decision of his disqualification is made, the person should get a clean chit.

On the second and the final day of hearing of the appeals, the ECP will take up 11 important petitions. These are the candidates who were cleared by ROs, but their rivals had challenged their candidatures.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has claimed that Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974, which bars transfer of vote from one constituency to another after the issuance of election schedule, does not extend to the Senate elections, a claim that many legal experts dispute.

On February 10, 2015, almost three weeks after it officially announced schedule for elections of the upper house of parliament, the ECP wrote a secret letter to its provincial election commissioners – who have been declared returning officers (ROs) to conduct scrutiny of nomination papers – asking them to allow their registration officers transfer votes from one area to another, if needed.

The letter was not made public till The Express Tribune revealed this in a story last week.

The move apparently paved way for many leading candidates, mostly from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to get clearance from the ROs and qualify for the March 5 Senate elections.

The ROs turned down objections raised by the opponents of these candidates, who were not natives of the areas from where they were contesting. As per rules, a person contesting for a Senate seat must be registered as a voter in the province from where he/she is contesting.

Without mentioning The Express Tribune which raised the issue, the ECP in a statement claimed that section 20 is only limited to national and provincial assemblies’ elections and the said law does not mention about its extension to the Senate polls. The ECP admitted that it had entertained requests of transfer of votes from one province to another during senate elections held in 2009 and 2012 to justify its claims.

The commission did not elaborate why there was a need to attach the extract from the voters list at the time of filing of nomination papers if this clause was not applicable for Senate polls. On the other hand, the experts say the ECP’s stance over the issue is in violation of the spirit of the Constitution, which stipulates that people of every federating unit can have equal representation in the Senate.

They said if the ECP’s stance is admitted then there remains no need to attach the certificate of registration of vote with nomination papers.

Section 20 says: “No revision or correction of any electoral roll for an electoral area shall be made nor shall any order under section 19 be made in respect of any electoral roll at any time after the constituency of which such electoral area forms part has been called upon to elect its representative and before such representative has been elected.”

However, the ECP in its statement said: “Needless to say that a voters’ list cannot be used for aforesaid purposes, if it is continuously being modified and there is no end to it.

“Whereas, no such need arises in case of Senate elections, as the voters in these elections are members of the National and Provincial Assemblies, who form the “Electoral College” for election to fill vacancies in the Senate.

“Thus visualised, a province or the Federal Capital cannot be called a constituency as defined in the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and therefore the provisions of Section 20 ibid, by no stretch of imagination, can be said to be applicable to Senate elections,” the ECP claimed.

While welcoming the government’s proposal to amend the Conduct Senate elections through show of hands instead of secret balloting, the former president said that electoral rigging and horse trading at multiple levels was a major issue that lies at the root of manipulation of power transfer and needs to be addressed comprehensively.

In a statement issued by PPP’s media office, the former president said that issues of electoral reforms and preventing horse trading should be addressed by all parties together and not by the government alone, rather the government should convene an all parties meeting. This meeting will be tasked to address reservations and issues surrounding the Senate elections including horse trading, electoral fraud and rigging of all types including those which were recently raised by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The PPP co-chairman expressed the hope that the apparent realisation of issues in Senate elections by the government was more than just a political gimmick.

“We recently witnessed the near break down of the civilian and political structures due to the demonstrations and protests against fraud and rigging in the 2013 general elections,” the former President said.

“The parliament and the government were saved from total collapse by the unprecedented unity and commitment of political but it should not lull us into believing that issues in electoral fraud will not rear their ugly heads in the future.”

A secret letter from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asking its returning officers (ROs) to overlook an election rule has helped many leading aspirants qualify for the March 5 Senate polls, putting a question mark on the validity of the scrutiny process.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the ECP wrote the letter to its ROs, asking them to overlook Section 20 of Electoral Rolls Act 1974, which bars transfer of vote from one constituency to another once the election schedule is announced. A copy of the letter is available with The Express Tribune.

Section 20 reads: “No revision or correction of any electoral roll for an electoral area shall be made nor shall any order under Section 19 be made in respect of any electoral roll at any time after the constituency of which such electoral area forms part has been called upon to elect its representative and before such representative has been elected.”

It makes it clear that once the schedule is announced the voters list is frozen.

However, a secret communiqué was sent to the ROs after the ECP announced the schedule for the Senate elections. This purported communication helped many leading aspirants, who were not resident of the province from where they were nominated to contest, qualify for the polls. Due to the criticism over the conduct of the lower court judges as the ROs in the 2013 general elections, the ECP appointed its senior officers as ROs for the scrutiny of Senate candidates.

The ECP also availed the services of around 11 bodies – including banking, tax and utility service providing authorities – to provide feedback to its ROs before they can judge the credentials of every candidate.

But still questions are being raised on the quality of scrutiny ECP’s high-ups have conducted.

Out of 184 candidates, who had filed their nomination papers for the Senate polls, the ROs declared 144 eligible to contest. The axe of scrutiny fell on independent candidates.

Except for a couple of candidates having tickets of the mainstream political parties, an overwhelming majority of the candidates whose nomination papers have been rejected are independents – 23 of them from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas only.

A glaring example of alleged anomaly is an RO’s decision to clear two key contenders of ruling PML-N contesting from Islamabad – Rahila Magsi for a women’s seat and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra for a general seat. Not only both the candidates are non-residents of Islamabad but they were also not registered as voters in the capital.

Similarly, many candidates contesting from Punjab and Sindh were not registered as voters in these provinces before the ECP announced the Senate polls schedule on January 19 and they managed to shift their votes after they were awarded party tickets just days before the two-day scrutiny process that concluded on Friday.

Contrary to National Assembly elections where a person registered as voter anywhere in the country can contest from any constituency across country, a person contesting for a Senate seat must be registered as a voter in the province from where he/she is contesting.

This provision is in line with the spirit of the Constitution, which stipulates that people of every federating unit can have equal representation in the Senate, known as upper house of parliament.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Nargis Faiz Malik challenged the credentials of Magsi on these grounds but the ECP’s acting secretary Sher Afgan – who was acting as the RO for the two Islamabad seats – set aside her assertions in his written order. Sher Afgan, in his controversial decision, wrote that section 20 of electoral rolls law would not apply for upcoming Senate elections.

Malik told The Express Tribune that she would go to higher forums against the decision.

She accused that the RO gave the decision under pressure as according to her four MNAs of ruling PML-N remained in his office till the decision was handed over.

Interestingly, if any one sends the CNIC numbers of all such candidates, who have been cleared by the ROs, in a text message to 8300 – the ECP’s service to help voters locate their vote – their votes are still registered in their native provinces.

Under Section 19 of the Act, in case of very special circumstances it is the chief election commissioner (CEC), who can allow changes in the electoral rolls after schedule is issued and voters list is frozen.

But these powers are limited in cases where there is any gross error or irregularity in the electoral rolls for any electoral area or part of it.

Wrapping up scrutiny of nomination papers, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday cleared 144 candidates to contest the elections for 52 Senate seats scheduled to be held on March 5.

During the two-day scrutiny process, returning officers (ROs) rejected nominations of 40 candidates on different grounds, including tax evasion and loan default. The highest number of rejections came from FATA where 23 out of 43 aspiring candidates for four seats were barred from contesting the election, mostly for not filing income tax returns.

The ROs from Punjab rejected nominations of Saud Majeed, a PML-N candidate from South Punjab. This would add to discontent among the party’s MPAs from South Punjab who complain that their impoverished region is neglected by the party in awarding tickets.

Those whose nominations have been rejected can appeal against the ROs’ decisions in pre-election tribunals yet to be announced by the ECP.

This time around, the ROs were given feedback from nearly 11 departments about the credentials of every candidate. Earlier the ROs mainly focused on moral turpitude of candidates.

For two seats from ICT all nine candidates who filed nomination papers have been cleared. These include PML-N nominees Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Rahila Magsi. Nominations of their covering candidates have also been accepted. Interestingly, both Jhagra and Magsi are non-resident of ICT prompting criticism against them.

During the scrutiny process, PPP candidate Nargis Faiz Malik objected to Magsi’s nomination from ICT, pointing out that she was domiciled in Sindh. She also referred to the transfer of Jhagra from Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad. The RO, however, overruled the objections.

Moreover, Raja Imran Ashraf, brother of ex-prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, and former MPA Nargis Faiz Mailk are also in the run from ICT on PPP tickets. However, due to its numerical strength in the National Assembly, which votes for ICT seats in the Senate, the PML-N is confident to clinch both seats.

From Punjab, where a total of 11 Senate seats will be contested, 17 candidates are now in the run whereas 23 persons had filed nomination papers.

In Sindh, nomination papers of 18 candidates for seven general seats have been accepted. They include ticket holders of the PPP, MQM, PML-F and PML-N. For two women’s seats from the province six candidates will be in the run and four for two technocrat seats. Given the strength of the PPP and MQM in the provincial legislature – the two parties are confident to grab most of the 11 seats from the province.

Interesting contest is expected in K-P where PTI is in power. Sixteen candidates have qualified to contest for the seven general seats. Besides candidates from PTI, PPP, PML-N, JUI-F, ANP and Aftab Sherpao’s QWP, three independent candidates will also be contesting for general seats. Nine candidates have qualified to contest for two technocrat seats from K-P. Seven are in the fray for two women and three for one minority seat.

Like K-P, situation in Balochistan is also not clear. For seven general seats, 17 candidates have qualified including five independents. A total of 19 aspiring candidates had filed nominations for the category.

A nominee for a Senate seat needs to have a ‘proposer’ and a ‘seconder’ from among the MPAs of the respective assembly. This means for all those who qualified to contest have backing of at least two MPs.

For two technocrat seats from Balochistan nine, for two women seats six and for one minority seat six candidates have qualified to contest. Interestingly, name of a sitting woman senator from the province, Kalsoom Parveen, who is running for a second term, has been included in the list of accepted and rejected candidates in ECP’s record.

In the next step, the decisions of ROs for rejecting or accepting nomination papers could be challenged on February 23 and 24. These appeals will be heard on February 26 and 27. Subsequently, February 28 is the day by which anyone can withdraw his/her candidature including those who have qualified as covering candidates before a final list is displayed. Polling will be held on March 5.

The election authority has rejected nomination papers of nearly two dozen candidates from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) seeking to secure a seat in the upper house of parliament on grounds of tax evasion.

It is for the first time in the country’s electoral history that tax evasion has become an issue for those who aspire to become public representatives through finding a berth in the Senate in the March 5 polls.

On Thursday, the first day of scrutiny, the returning officer (RO), director general of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), rejected nomination papers of 21 candidates from Fata, among them some sitting and former parliamentarians.

However, those whose nomination papers have been rejected from Fata argued that Fata is a tax-free zone, hence, they were not obliged to pay taxes.

A total of 43 candidates from Fata had filed nomination papers for the four seats from the area being contested for the upper house when 52 outgoing senators will be replaced by new members.

The RO has cleared 12 candidates, rejected 21 and objected against six others for their incomplete documents.

Most of those whose nomination papers were rejected faced the charge of tax evasion as they had not been filing their tax returns while papers of a few others were turned down on the grounds they had criminal cases pending against them.

Usman Ali, who was acting as retuning officer for candidates from Fata, rejected the nomination papers of Munir Khan Orakzai. He was parliamentary leader of Fata in the National Assembly during 2008-13.

Nomination papers of a sitting Senator Muhammad Idrees Khan Safi whose six-year term is expiring this March, have also been rejected. Among other prominent names who appear to be out of the race, unless cleared at the appeals stage, include former MNA Akhunzada Chittan and a former senator Hazif Rasheed Ahmed.

For the Senate polls, it is for the first time the ECP is getting services of FBR, NAB, FIA and other allied departments for their input before judging the credentials of the contestants.

These institutions have sent their reports to ECP for every individual candidate.

Besides many other criteria, anyone who has not been filing tax returns for the past three years is not eligible to contest polls.

An official of FBR told The Express Tribune that filing of tax returns is mandatory for everyone, including those belonging to areas declared tax-free zones or those whose income is less than a minimum threshold where income tax applies.

He also said a person from Fata who has income from some sources outside Fata, like any business or job in settled areas, have to pay tax.

The RO has asked these candidates to file a clearance certificate from FBR or they can contest their case in the appellant tribunals which will be hearing appeals against decisions of ROs at a later stage.

In Punjab, the returning officer accepted nomination papers of 12 candidates on Thursday.

In Sindh, the election commission has accepted around 19 nomination papers so far out of a total 28 submitted to the commission.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, a total of 21 including four minorities’ candidates appeared before scrutiny committee. Nomination papers for 17 general seats have been accepted.

In Balochistan, around 12 forms have been accepted so far out of a total 42 submitted to the election commission.